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(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Thursday it was still working to determine the extent its computer systems had been breached by hackers, adding that the incident was the subject of a criminal probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Interdealer Brokers Emerge as Key Enablers in Libor Scandal Bloomberg Interdealer brokers, the middlemen who line up buyers and sellers of securities for banks, are emerging as key enablers in the Libor scandal after three firms paid a total of $2.6 billion for rigging global interest rates. Employees at firms including ICAP Plc, the ...

Florida Homeowner Loses Bid to Keep BNY Mellon Suit in Court Businessweek A Florida homeowner facing a foreclosure lawsuit lost a bid at the state&#39;s high court to stop his lender from dropping the case while he tried to prove the bank used fraudulent documents in suing him. The Florida Supreme Court said today that under state court ... and more&nbsp;&raquo;

U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today reintroduced legislation to help millions of responsible homeowners refinance at lower rates and save thousands of dollars each year. The Senators originally introduced this legislation in the 112th Congress.Bill proposes to: 1)Ensure that streamlined refinancing is available and consistent for all Fannie and Freddie borrowers, regardless of whether they are underwater or not; 2) Reduce up-front fees on refinances; 3) Eliminate appraisal costs for all borrowers; 4) Remove additional barriers to competition; 5) Extend HARP by one year, to allow eligible borrowers more time to access the program.

"Many of the practices you're seeing in [the DOJ's lawsuit with S&P] are still going on, shaping things in order to get more business. They're still selling out," said Jules Kroll, CEO of Kroll Bond Ratings, a New York-based ratings agency.

Record Number of California Homes Bought with Cash February 6, 2013 The number of California homes purchased with cash reached an all-time high last year, the result of high investor interest, a difficult mortgage environment, and perceived higher returns on investment, a real estate information service reported. A total of 145,797 condos and houses were bought without mortgage financing in 2012, a record. That was up from 125,812 in 2011, the previous high. In 2007, as the housing market deflated, cash sales totaled 39,731, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. "It's clear that a lot of today's housing market recovery is being fueled by people putting their own money into homes. Some cash buying is part of a normal housing market, but we're at twice that normal rate. There are always some rich people, also buyers from abroad, but in a normal market the biggest single category would be retirees and empty-nesters who are down-sizing. Today, a lot of buyers are chasing what they view as the deal of a lifetime," said John Walsh, DataQuick president. Cash purchases accounted for a record 32.4 percent of California's overall home sales last year, up from 30.4 percent in 2011 and more than double the annual average of 15.6 percent since 1991, when DataQuick's cash statistics begin. "I'm sure a lot of today's cash buyers would love to take advantage of the current low mortgage interest rates, but since the 'loans-gone-wild' days of 2004-2006, the lending pendulum has swung to the opposite end of the spectrum. Even a lot of well-qualified buyers can't get loans. While the market overall is improving, sales levels are still below average, and prices much closer to the bottom than to the peak," he said. Last year a total of 447,573 homes were sold in California to all buyers, whether they used a loan or cash. While up from the cyclical low of 383,748 sales in 2007, last year's total was well below the peak of 775...

CHICAGO, IL (Marketwire) - As consumers across the nation begin their New Year's financial resolutions, TransUnion has revealed a ranking of metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest consumer credit score in the country. The metropolitan areas at the very top of the class are San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont, CA. Memphis, TN metropolitan area ranked lowest.

Obama Urged by House Democrats to Replace Fannie Mae&#39;s Regulator Bloomberg A group of House Democrats is urging President Barack Obama to nominate a permanent director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to replace an acting chief they say is standing in the way of aid for struggling borrowers. The 45 lawmakers led ...

PennyMac, Run by Ex-Countrywide President, Files Plans for IPO Businessweek PennyMac Financial Services Inc., the residential mortgage company founded by former Countrywide Financial Corp. President Stanford L. Kurland, filed for a public offering of as much as $287.5 million. Plans to sell Class A shares in the Moorpark, ...

Washington, D.C. (Feb. 7, 2013)-Today, a group of 45 Members of the House of Representatives led by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Committee Member John F. Tierney sent a letter to President Obama urging him to nominate a permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). "Ensuring that FHFA implements Congressional directives to support the most liquid, efficient, competitive, and resilient housing finance markets is a matter of national urgency," the Members wrote. "For these reasons, we strongly urge you to nominate an FHFA Director who is ready to fulfill this mission and address the many challenges still facing the nation's housing finance markets." In the three and a half years since Edward J. DeMarco was designated Acting Director of FHFA, questions have persisted about his repeated failure to utilize the authorities available to FHFA to promote a healthy housing finance market. Specifically, the Members point to DeMarco's failure to authorize a loan modification pilot program that would test whether a principal reduction program could save taxpayers money while helping borrowers keep their homes. Today's letter confirms the growing worries surrounding the current direction of FHFA, while emphasizing the immediate need for a strong leader at FHFA who is willing and able to tackle the critical challenges facing the housing sector. The following Members signed the letter: Reps. Ami Bera, Lois Capps, Tony Cárdenas, Matt Cartwright, Judy Chu, David Cicilline, Wm. Lacy Clay, Steve Cohen, John Conyers, Jr., Jim Costa, Elijah E. Cummings, Susan Davis, Keith Ellison, Anna G. Eshoo, Sam Farr, Marcia L. Fudge, John Garamendi, Joe Garcia, Al Green, Raúl M. Grijalva, Rubén Hinojosa, Mike Honda, Hank Johnson, Marcy Kaptur, Barbara Lee, Zoe Lofgren, Doris Matsui, James P. McGovern, Jerry McNerney, George Miller, Jerrold Nadler, Grace Napolitano, Eleanor Holmes...

Speech at the "Restoring Household Financial Stability after the Great Recession: Why Household Balance Sheets Matter" research symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Thursday, with European shares slightly higher in early trade ahead of policy announcements from both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB).

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